7 things about me - just for fun

Just for fun, am copying this blogging idea from a fellow blogger friend of mine...so 7 completely random things you probably didn't know about me (or maybe you do, but whatever, amuse me and read the entry regardless)

1. I was raised by a stay-at-home dad and bread-winning mum;

2. I studied karate religiously for 10 plus years. During those 10 years, I competed in the US, Canada and Japan. The national coach of the Japanese Olympic karate team adopted me as his student for a good year, after which time, I won medals in kumite (fighting) and kata at the Tokyo National Karate Competition. So watch out thugs of Nairobi! I may look small and harmless, but mess with me, my boy or my friends and you've got pepper spray and a round house kick to the head commin' atchya! (or at least that is how I envision it...)

3. I am a direct descendant of Mary Queen of Scots.

4. My great, great, great uncle made his millions by inventing the grocery cart.

5. I was born in the Bronx (New York City), but was raised in the snow-white village of Cooperstown, population 2,800.

6. I have swum with sharks, sea turtles, clown fish (Nemo!) and zebra rays. I dream of swimming with dolphins and according to my parents and bf, swim like a fish (whatever, I just envy fish).

7. I am one of those odd ball modern women who dreams of a successful career (with the UN or IOM!!!) and being an independent woman, but at the same time also dreams of her wedding day, having 2 or 3 kids and growing old and wrinkly with her best friend/husband/soul mate.  

"Indy, I feel like we step on fortune cookie"

Remember the Indian Jones movie, "Temple of Doom?" There's a scene in that movie where Indy and his Chinese sidekick are making their way through a pitch-dark cavern. At one point, the Chinese kid makes a heavily accented remark like "Indy, I feel like I step on fortune cookie." Indy then throws a torch to the floor only to reveal that they are waling on a sea of creepy crawlies! I had a somewhat similar experience tonight. I was walking around my Kakuma accommodation in bare feet when I felt something crunch beneath my right foot. I initially thought it was food that I had accidentally dropped on the floor, but on closer inspection I learned that it was actually a millipede that I had "crunched" in half. I found two more millipedes crawling around in my shower. Such creepy crawlies would have given me the chills and nightmares just a year ago. Now my only reaction to the presence of such creatures is a shrug and slight annoyance (...and perhaps the slam of a shoe) - it seems Africa has toughened me in more ways than one. 

Turkana Women in Northwestern Kenya

There are some things that I'll never adjust to here however, namely mosquitoes, the intensity of the African sun and poorly washed linens. I am my brother's sister KABISA (Swahili for completely) in that my skin is naturally fair and insanely sensitive. Put me in a cheap hotel with linens that are moldy or have not been completely washed free of detergent and I will be covered in red welts in no time. Put me outside in the African sun without AT LEAST 30SPF sunblock and I'll be lobster red in a matter of minutes. My boyfriend, who is blessed with a surplus of melanin, finds my sensitivity to the sun most entertaining...to the extent that my sun baked skin is often met with him pressing his hand firmly into my back to see if he can leave behind a hand print..."marking his territory," he says. :p As for mosquitoes, they are the bane of my existence no matter where I go in the world. African mosquitoes, just like their Japanese and Thai cousins, leave huge welts on my skin making me look like some sort of leper. I am one of those people who supposedly has "sweet blood" and will therefore get bit a hundred times over even when nobody else in the area is being bitten. This blog finds me deep in Turkana Land, in Kakuma UN Compound (NW Kenya). Though Somalia and NE Kenya is suffering from drought, this part of Kenya has seen frequent rain. Rain translates into creepy crawly heaven, most particularly mosquitoes. Thankfully, UNHCR has provided my team with mosquito nets though. After being visited by the millipedes in my loo, I've taken the extra precaution of ensuring that my mosquito net has been fully tucked in and that my legs and arms are fully lathered with repellent. :p    

To Resettle or not to Resettle

I am on the schedule to conduct interviews in Sudan from late August to early September, but everyone at the office is pessimistic with regards to whether the Sudanese Embassy will actually grant me a visa. Apparently the Sudanese government is not the biggest fan of Americans, even those who would arguably be helping the government by giving refugees in Sudan a chance at resettlement. The last time an American from CWS-RSC Nairobi was granted a Sudanese visa was 2008!  Let me be the devil's advocate though and explain Sudan's possible reasoning for long denying us access to their refugee populations...

Ronhingya mother with child

Refugees in Sudan

Opening up the opportunity to resettle in a third country, especially one well-off like the USA, can be seen by country of asylum (CoA) governments in two opposing ways. Aid workers will often argue that 3rd country resettlement is not only benefitial to the refugees, but is also a means to lessen the burden on a CoA government to provide protection/aid to those seeking asylum within its borders. The  argument goes that the more refugees there are who are resettled, the  less aid-reliant refugees there will be  in the CoA.

The above is not always completely true, however. The mere rumor that refugee resettlement applicants will be accepted in a given CoA is often a Pandora's Box of sorts acting a potential catalyst for increased migration flows to the CoA. Regardless of the refugee population, word always travels fast, particularly when it is in regards to aid access.  I can't even begin to count the number of Somali and Ethiopian refugees in Uganda, for instance, who have told me that the reason why they did not remain in Kenya (their 1st CoA after leaving their country of origin) was because they had "heard" that refugee assistance was "better" across the border. It goes to follow that such tendency of word-of-mouth translates into both  an increase in migration flows to a given CoA,  as well as an increased burden on the CoA's government to provide aid to a mushrooming displaced population. This line of thinking seems to mirror that of the Sudanese Government. Though morally corrupt, the Sudanese government can justifiably argue that as long as the country refrains from accepting more international aid workers (resettlement staff inclusive), the burden on the Sudanese government to assist displacees will  not increase, but remain at the the status quo. They could even argue that dependency on the Sudanese government by its refugee population may lessen. As refugees realize that there is little hope in the foreseeable future for them to access international aid they may very well decide to leave Sudan for better aid opportunities elsewhere. Unfortunately for the refugees however, most are unable to travel at will due to financial restraints. The vast majority of refugees that I have interviewed (which by now must amount to more than a thousand) are poor both by American and Kenyan standards. It goes to follow that when they flee their home countries, they are not financially able to flee to the country of asylum of their choice. Rather, they tend to flee to the nearest and/or easily accessible, safe location.  

What I DO do

Received a link to a New York Times article yesterday that touched on the apparent tenancy towards fraud among asylum applicants in the United States. The article lacked depth in my opinion, but was a fairly interesting read nonetheless. Reading the article reminded me of how much my family and friends back home have struggled (and often times given up on trying) to understand my role in Africa. Most know that I work with refugees, but why, where and how I assist them is generally misunderstood, if not unknown. This blog is intended to provide some clarification <wink to my brother>

First off, let me say that I do not "hand out blankets." I am a humanitarian aid worker, but my work focuses on a more long-term solution to forced migration - refugee resettlement. I am not the sort of humanitarian aid worker that focuses on short-term fixes to forced migration flows. Just as I do not hand out blankets, I do not help with water, shelter and food provision to newly displaced forced migrants. I am therefore not involved in the enormous emergency aid effort currently ongoing in Dadaab, Kenya for newly arrived, Somali displacees (see footnote (1)).

Secondly, let me clarify that I do not work for the US Government, IOM or the United Nations (UNHCR inclusive). I have heard rumors that I work for all of these! Rather, I work for an American NGO called Church World Service (CWS). A number of years ago, CWS won a contractual bid to be the US Department of State-funded organization to process refugee resettlement applications from Sub-Saharan Africa. The contractual bid we won gives the Nairobi office the much sought after title of “Refugee Support Center - Africa” (RSC). There are 8 RSCs worldwide located in Nairobi, Kenya; Amman, Jordan; Havana, Spain; Damak, Nepal; Istanbul, Turkey; Moscow, Russia; Bangkok, Thailand; and Vienna. Austria. 

Each of these RSCs are run by an NGO or intergovernmental organization. Each organization must compete to keep their contract with the US Government every 3 years. The last bid  for the Nairobi RSC was held last year; obviously our organization won the contract. I am  not sure of which organizations hold the contracts for the other RSCs, except that the RSC in Bangkok is currently held by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC “stole” the RSC contract from IOM in 2009 during the time I was a graduate fellow at the IOM-Bangkok office.

As mentioned above, each of the RSCs are funded by the US Department of State, Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). In addition to receiving our funds and directives from PRM, RSC-Nairobi also works with (not for!):

- the US Dpt of Homeland Security, US Citizen & Immigration Services (CIS);

- the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR);

- the International Organization for Migration (IOM);

- the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS); and

- Refuge Point

Refugee children

As I mentioned earlier, our RSC in Africa is run by Church World Service. Please don't be misled by the word, CHURCH, however. I'm only vaguely familiar with CWS's work in the US, but in Africa, our mission has absolutely nothing to do with proselytism or Christian-influenced charity. Our focus is solely on processing refugees living in East, Central and Southern Africa who wish to resettle to the USA. To facilitate this process we are about 300 strong. We receive application referrals from UNHCR, HIAS, Refugee Point and the US Embassy. Once initial prep and screening is complete, selected members of the RSC Field Team (approx 60 members) are sent out to the field to interview the refugee applicants in person. I am a Field Team Caseworker and have so far been sent to the field in Dadaab (Kenya), Kakuma (Kenya), Nairobi (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dire Dawa (Ethiopia), Kampala (Uganda), Mbarara (Uganda), Kibuye (Rwanda), and Yaounde (Cameroon). My next trip will be to Sudan providing the Sudanese like me enough to give this humble American a visa. :p

Conditions in the field vary from living in the middle of the sandy desert sands of Kakuma and Dadaab, to refugee camps, to modern (in the African sense that is) metropolises like Kampala and Nairobi. Regardless of the location, security is always one of our top priorities. We always have several security guards nearby; refugees have to go through security checkpoints in order to gain contact with us. Even in places like Dadaab where al Shabaab is a real threat outside the UN Compound walls, I have honestly never felt that my safety was in danger. I am a little nervous about going to Sudan next month as the country observes Sharia law, but I am confident that UNHCR, IOM, as well as my organization’s own security precautions will be sufficient enough to keep me safe. Plus I am scheduled to go with 3 burly men (2 Kenyans, 1 American) so wherever I go I will also be accompanied by the requisite male escort. :p

Refugee women

The interviews I conduct with the refugees are generally focused on why the individual had to flee his/her country, what his/her life has been like in his/her country of asylum and why he/she cannot return now to his/her country of origin. The information and stories the refugees tell me are held strictly confidential and are only shared with those organizations that are directly involved in facilitating the refugee’s resettlement to the US. In other words, I am afraid I can't share any of their stories on this blog. I can however tell you that many of the stories I hear are absolutely heart-breaking – torture, rape, genocide, sex slavery, child trafficking, child soldiering, you name it, I’ve heard it. The refugees often break down at some point during the interview; it is a heart-wrenching experience no matter how many interviews I conduct. At the same time though, it is immensely fulfilling and relieving to know that I am actually a part of a durable solution to their plight.

Refugee women

That’s it from me for now. As always, feel free to let me know if there is a topic of particular interest to you that you’d like to read about on my blog.  La la salama (“good night” in Swahili). Will post again soon.

Disclaimer:  
The opinions expressed in this blog are not in any way representative of those held by RSC-Nairobi or CWS. The pictures I used to liven up this entry are not of refugees interviewed by RSC, but are rather random pics found by google searching "refugee, Africa." :p

   

Foot notes:

(1) Dadaab, already the largest refugee camp in the world is now experiencing an unfathomable influx of Somali displacees fleeing drought and conflict in their home country. According to recent estimates, more than a thousand Somalis are flowing into Dadaab, Kenya, DAILY!

Maternal Instinct Overdrive

I think I must be hitting that age where a woman’s maternal instincts go into overdrive. Seeing a baby or small child smile fills with such an intense feeling of joy; a baby crying no longer annoys me, but rather makes me want to run to the child, hold her close and dry her tears. My direct supervisor is something like 5 months pregnant. Though my colleagues and I are in the middle of an intense training week, I find my mind drifting at times to thoughts of “what would it be like…?”  One of my best friends from college, who just so happens to be married to a Kenyan, is also around 4/5 months pregnant. When she told me the news, I was honestly filled with not only joy and happiness for her, but also envy. I want to be at that stage in life where I too can have a child. The influence and advice of mother remain deeply ingrained in my head though. Before I feel that I am "ready" to have a child, I have to be married, I have to be financially secure and I have to be confident that the potential father of the baby is going to be the ideal father I have pictured in this head of mine. The latter I can say I am fairly confident I have already been blessed with, but the former two...well, my ring finger remains naked and my job pays peanuts.

South Sudan - おめでとうございます

South Sudan officially celebrated its independence from Sudan yesterday. South Sudanese could be found celebrating even in the streets of Nairobi. Personally I am thrilled fro the South Sudanese, but worry about how successful they will be at building a new nation from scratch. For the time being they are motivated by the natural high of newly realized, national liberation, but a couple years down the road when they are still struggling to build up their infrastructure, will they remain as committed as they are now to peaceful means of nation building? The humanitarian in me worries about the immediate safety of the South Sudanese as a whole. I am told that Khartoum (capital of Sudan) recently passed legislation that effectively stripped South Sudanese of their Sudanese citizenship. With South Sudan in the fledgling stages of building a government responsible to a people who fought so hard for its sovereignty, I am pessimistic that national IDs, passports and other forms of citizenship documentation will be made readily available in the foreseeable future. Without such proof of national belonging, South Sudanese join the ranks of Palestinians and Rohingya - denied the basic right of availing oneself the protection of the government from whom one claims citizenship/nationality.

Karibu Kenya Mama Amina!

September will see my mum's first trip to Kenya and Tanzania. Mom is one of my dearest friends and someone whose opinion I have always had immense respect for. I want her to love it here; I NEED her to love it here. I want her to feel comfortable and I want her to realize that Kenya is a fascinating place not only for my professional aspirations, but also in terms of its cultural and natural diversity. I've come to love this country; this continent. It is so different from any other place I've lived or worked in, visited, or even  imagined. Naturally, I want my mother to understand my feelings and experiences in Africa first-hand. I want HER to want to visit Africa time and time again.

The ultimate shot! Spotted this guy towards the end of our safari.

Shot of some of the many zebras in Masai Mara (2010)
 

Zanzibar, Tanzania

September is just around the corner. Needless to say, I've begun slowly prepping my apartment for her arrival and looking into mini-trips within Kenya and possibly Tanzania. My savings are hurting, what, with  recent purchases of a lay-down coach, air mattress, oven, duvet and 2 plane tickets to South Africa - all in the past week if you can imagine! Regardless, with the significance of Mom's first impressions of E Africa in mind, I am finding myself constantly brainstorming these days as how I can provide her with the most well-rounded and relaxing vacation possible. Mom will only be in Africa for about 8 days, but I think I can manage to get us both to Zanzibar (Tanzania) and on safari to Masai Mara National Park. 

Masai Mara, Kenya - Mom will be here during the world-famous "Great Migration," when literally millions of wild animals cross from Tanzania into Kenya in search of greener pastures. I was fortunate enough to see last year's migration. Despite personal drama going on at that time, I found the Great Migration to be one my life's most exhilarating experiences!  

Zanzibar, Tanzania - Though it will a pain having to pay the 75 USD visa fee, Zanzibar seems like the perfect choice for Mom's visit. I've yet to visit the island myself, but have gleamed from the stories of friends and colleagues that Zanzibar will provide both Mom and I a unique taste of Swahili culture, dramatic history, warm weather, beautiful architecture, beautiful beaches and ample time for the 2 of us to talk till we snooze.  

Crows in Kenya

Crows in America

Nairobi, Kenya - Mom says she would also like  to experience Kenya's capital - Nairobi. She says she is looking forward to buying saris (Kenya has a large Indian population), baskets and beaded jewelry (Kenya has a unique array of jewelry in every color and style imaginable). I'm wanting to take her to my office, to try traditional Luo and/or Kikuyu food, and to take her to the National Museum off Uhuru Highway - the bird collection there is impressive! Bird watching might also be to her liking as the diversity and type of birds in Kenya are completely different from that which we are used to back home. Even the crows look different here! Our crows back home are completely black (right), whereas the crows in Nairobi (left) look as if they are wearing little, white vests! Mom will be fascinated...